The financial penalty for failing to submit a mandatory hunter report two or more times for a species in Ontario is increasing.
The changes, made through amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, come after consultation via an Environmental Registry of Ontario posting that was open from Aug. 15 to Oct. 1.
The surcharge replaces the one year prevent from purchase for two or more consecutive failures to submit a report as part of the graduated penalty framework, the Ministry of Natural Resources stated on Dec. 20.
Until July 1, 2026, any failure to report will result in a $25 surcharge penalty, while any consecutive failure to report after that date will cost hunters a $50 surcharge that will be applied to each failure to report until a report for the species is submitted.
Graduated penalties supported
Consultation on the original proposal to implement mandatory hunter reporting in 2019 indicated that most hunters and stakeholders were supportive of tools to encourage compliance, the ministry stated.
Comments on this proposal revealed the same but indicated some prefer an approach that penalizes hunters without preventing them from hunting. Some expressed support for the existing graduated penalty approach suggesting the prevent from purchase is necessary to achieve the desired response rates, the ministry stated. No changes were made to the proposal as a result of feedback received.
The ministry will monitor the results of the change to a graduated financial penalty once fully implemented in 2027, the ministry stated, pointing out that if the change does not result in the expected response rates necessary to ensure the best quality data, further changes may be considered in the future.
A new fishing and hunting licensing service is expected to be launched in late 2026.
For more information, please refer to: https://www.ontario.ca/page/hunter-reporting
